Kamal Haasan Questions TN Govt Over Pollachi Sexual Assault Case

Actor-turned-politician and chief of Makkal Needhi Maiam Kamal Haasan on Thursday, 14 March, attacked the Tamil Nadu ruling party over its alleged links and inaction in connection with the Pollachi sexual assault case.

In a video posted on his Twitter, Haasan said, “When the Nirbhaya gang rape case happened, the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said that harshest of punishments will be given to people who sexually abuse and rape women.”

A gang of four men had on 12 February allegedly tried to strip the woman inside a car near Pollachi, over 500 km from here, and had shot a video of the act and blackmailed her using the visuals.

The four accused in sexual harassment case –Sabarirajan, Thirunavakkarasu, Sathish and Vasanthkumar are under judicial custody and were booked under various sections of the IPC, Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act and the Goondas Act.

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Nagaraj, the expelled AIADMK functionary is one of the accused in the assault case besides Senthil, Babu, Manivannan and Vasanthakumar.

He said that now the government is run in Jayalalithaa’s name. “How can they (government) be so careless?”

He also questioned about the police’s “mistake” of revealing the name of the survivor and government’s silence.

“The SP who is investigating the case has admitted that he revealed the name of the survivor ‘by mistake.’ Not only did he go against the law, by revealing her name, the government is also silent about it,” Haasan said.

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‘There’s a Limit to Everything’

Directing questions at Chief Minister E Palaniswami, Haasan asked what has the government done for the survivors and women’s safety.

“Mr Chief Minister, all these questions are for you. There is a limit for everything,” he said.

He said that he is not questioning the government as a politician but as a father of two daughters, as to what is it going to do to rectify all these missteps? “How will you assure all those women who are scared that their video will be released, if they file a complaint?,” he asked.